Petacchi Gets a Second Stage, and the Lead Vande Velde Out, Cavendish delayed in crash-marred finale

By Joe Lindsey, with AFP Reports

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes) notched his second stage win in as many days at the centenary Giro d'Italia, taking a wild finish into Valdobbiadene which saw Mark Cavendish (Columbia-High Road) lose his overall lead when he was caught in a massive pileup just 10km from the finish and finished 1:30 down to Petacchi.

Petacchi's win over Garmin-Slipstream sprinter Tyler Farrar also put him in the maglia rosa of the race leader on an animated day of racing that saw Farrar's team leader, Christian Vande Velde, crash out of the race. In a small consolation to the team's loss, Farrar did take over the white jersey of best young rider. Francesco Gavazzi of Lampre-NGC was third.

The 198km third stage from Grado, in the far northeast corner of Italy, to Valdobbiadene was not difficult on paper, with just one significant climb, but it was on one of the smaller rises that misfortune struck Vande Velde when he and a Rabobank rider went down in the peloton.

The American, who finished fourth at last year's Tour de France, remounted his bike and briefly attempted to continue before getting into an ambulance and going to the hospital. His condition is unknown.

Up ahead, the day's early escape was fighting a losing battle to stay clear of the field on the day's major climb but, with the field driven by the sprinters' teams, it was ultimately brought back with around 40km to the finish.

It was on the technical 20km finishing circuit that carnage struck again. French provocateur Thomas Voeckler (Bbox-Bouygues Telecom) attacked with Davide Malacarne of Quick Step, prompting a reaction from Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt, Astana's Levi Leipheimer and a host of others. Shortly after, a major crash near the front of the pack split the field into pieces.

A lead group of around 40 riders, including Petacchi, Farrar, Leipheimer and several other favorites, continued to drill it on the front. Behind, Cavendish was delayed by the wreck and chased at 15 seconds before realizing it was hopeless and sitting up.

With a vastly reduced field, there was less of the dueling leadouts of yesterday's finish and when Petacchi jumped not even Farrar, who beat the world's best this spring in a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, could come around.

With the time bonuses for the first three finishers, Petacchi moved into first place overall, mere seconds clear of Farrar. Petacchi will almost certainly give up the jersey tomorrow, as the fourth stage includes two major climbs, the Croce d'Aune and the finish atop 1,466- meter San Martino di Castrozza.

In other news, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that it banned Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde from competing in Italy for two years as a result of his alleged involvement in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal.

Valverde's DNA was found in blood bags seized as part of the investigation, although the Caisse d'Epargne rider denies it and says he will sue the Italian prosecutor. The suspension severely complicates Valverde's Tour de France ambitions, as the 16th stage passes briefly into Italy before returning to France.